Consultant Forensic / General Adult Psychiatrist
The closing date is 02 November 2025
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a full time Consultant Forensic / General Adult Psychiatrist, to join a dynamic and evolving forensic service. This role is based at St Ann's Hospital in Poole, with Trust-wide responsibilities across Dorset.
The successful applicant will work within the Dorset Forensic Service, which includes the Community Forensic Team (CQC outstanding) and provide cross-cover for the low secure ward, Twynham (CQC good) during consultant leave periods.
This post is suitable for consultants interested in or who have experience in Rehabilitation / PICU / Forensic Psychiatry and can be part of a developmental opportunity to enhance forensic psychiatric skills.
The post holder will be one of 3 consultants in the team with a WTE of 2.9 consultants.
Relocation
If you are interested in moving to our beautiful county, we offer a generous relocation package of up to £10,000. For further details on relocation expenses please email dhc.careers@nhs.net.
Main duties of the job
We are looking to recruit an enthusiastic and conscientious professional who is dedicated to providing the best care for the people we support and shares the Trust's values of compassion, excellence and expertise and our vision of being 'Better Every Day'.
The post holder will be the responsible clinician for the psychiatric care of 12 inpatients.
The post holder will be offered the opportunity to join the county-wide consultant on-call rota, which there is an additional 0.75PA reimbursement for.
The Trust strongly supports consultant involvement in research and development. There is a consultant with a lead role for research (Dr Paul Walters) and excellent links with Bournemouth University. The post-holder will be given time and support, if they wish, to develop their own research interests or become a Principal Investigator on NIHR portfolio studies.
Flexible Working
We would love to hear from you to discuss how together we might design this role around you and your specialist interests. We are committed to enabling flexible working and would welcome a discussion as to how this could be achieved for you.
This may include but is not limited to compressed hours over four days, job sharing, part time working and remote/home working. We know that when we support staff to achieve a better balance between home and work responsibilities, there are benefits for you, our patients and the Trust.
About us
At Dorset HealthCare we’re on a mission to empower people to make the most of their lives through our outstanding, joined‑up healthcare services. We’re a dynamic, forward‑looking Trust, running 12 community hospitals, specialist inpatient facilities and a wide range of integrated community and mental health services for a population of almost 800,000 people.
We do things differently here – it’s one of the reasons the CQC rated us ‘outstanding’ in 2019. It’s also why 95% of patients across our services say they have a good or very good experience of our services and 89% of staff feel they can really make a difference.
Our 7,000‑strong workforce is at the heart of what we do and our success is a testament to our brilliant people. We’re all about building a workplace for the future, we believe in equal opportunities and we celebrate diversity. We’re an inclusive workplace, where everyone is welcome, everyone can be authentic, and we are all encouraged to be the best version of ourselves.
Working with us you’ll be part of a strong team, challenge yourself, build a career, and teach us what we don’t know. And you’ll be working towards our vision to be better every day through excellence, compassion and expertise in all we do.
Job responsibilities
For the main duties and responsibilities for this role please read the attached job description and person specification. When completing your application please ensure your supporting statement reflects the criteria set out in these documents by showing how your experience and skills apply to this post.
As part of our vision to have a skilled, diverse and caring workforce, Dorset HealthCare offers support for people getting into work. We offer an employability service to support individuals with application writing, interview skills and other employment support. If you would like or know of anyone who would value this support, please do contact dhc.wideningparticipation@nhs.net.
Person Specification
Qualifications / Training
* General medical Qualification e.g. MBBS, or equivalent and hold a Licence to Practise.
* On Specialist Register in Forensic Psychiatry or General Adult Psychiatry.
* Full GMC Registration.
* MRCPsych or recognised equivalent, e.g. membership of a psychiatry college in another country.
* Further academic qualifications such as MRCGP, MRCP or research degree/diploma.
* Must be in possession or within 6 months of possession of a CCT in Psychiatry or on Specialist Register in Psychiatry.
* Section 12(2) approval and Approved Clinician approval or ability to obtain approval before starting post.
* Experience of medicine outside psychiatry e.g. general practice, medicine.
Management Skills
* Understand the importance of working with managers in the interest of good patient care.
* Interest in undertaking management roles e.g., Lead clinician.
Leadership Skills
* Understand principles of leadership and give examples of leadership in own practice.
* Able to provide clinical leadership to a multi‑disciplinary team.
* To be able to prioritise work to meet competing clinical demands.
* Able and willing in due course to fill extra roles e.g. Clinical Tutor.
Clinical Governance
* To understand and actively support the principles of Clinical Governance including audit and outcome measures.
* To demonstrate a good understanding of continuing professional development needs and revalidation.
* To have an understanding of own strengths and weaknesses and how these attributes affect professional functioning.
* To have an understanding of the stresses involved in being a consultant psychiatrist and how to manage these 22 appropriately.
Supervision of Junior medical Staff
* Knowledge of requirements for supervision and appraisal of junior medical staff.
* Have good organisational skills and able to organise own work and direct junior staff.
Previous Experience
* Demonstrable experience in Forensic or General Adult Psychiatry at senior /specialist registrar level.
* 3 years core training in psychiatry or equivalent.
* Demonstrable experience of work in the NHS.
* Experience at Consultant Level.
* Experience in the treatment of patients with personality disorder.
* Experience of working in a variety of psychological models with such patients, particularly schema therapy.
Teamwork
* To understand principles of multi‑disciplinary team working.
* To demonstrate ability to work as a member of a team and participate actively in team building.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust
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